[sksk]

I did not know about the basic bank account in the UK. What do you need to apply for a bank account? Do you need to provide some form of govt. ID to get it or can you get it any piece of item in a retail store?

In the US a good portion of the unbanked also happens to be undocumented immigrants. There is also the problem of AML/KYC process in the US which has been stricter in the US than in the UK (as you could tell from the UK headquartered banks getting fined by US Regulators -- not saying it is better though) and as a consequence the cost of compliance goes up for the bank. They pass on these costs to the consumer but with an upsell mentality that you had mentioned (increased min balance requirement removes fees, for e.g.) -- this leads to the upper middle class paying nothing and the poor and middle class paying bulk of the fees.

The economist had a very nice article about the cost of being poor: http://www.economist.com/news/united-states/21663262-why-low.... This is a very difficult problem and will be hard to address properly without adequate support from the govt. For example, the govt. could provide easier access to banking license for those who want to serve low-income customers and allow for innovative solutions in this space.

[Someone1234]

> What do you need to apply for a bank account? Do you need to provide some form of govt. ID to get it or can you get it any piece of item in a retail store?

In order to stop money laundering and fraud they do require some things:

- Proof of address (2x of the following): Bills (e.g. utilities), council tax bill, benefits agencies, a UK driving license, tenancy agreement, or a letter from your employer.

- Proof of identification (1x of the following): Passport, driving license (even foreign), national identity card, letter from benefits agency or local authority, or a verification letter from an individual in an trusted position (these are verified, and only individuals in certain notable roles are trusted, like commanding officers in the military, parole officers, and your priest, etc).

[sksk]

Interesting. If they accept foreign passports, it will be amazing if we can relax the regulation in the US along the same lines with a specific carve out that information cannot be used to enforce immigration policy violations. Then most undocumented works can probably get a bank account without a SSN and not worry they will get deported -- convincing undocumented immigrants that this is safe is going to a tough battle though.

[foldr]

You can open a U.S. bank account with a foreign passport and no SSN already.

[foldr]

It's actually much easier for foreigners to open a bank account in the U.S. than it is in the UK, since the UK banks have this silly list of documents which no-one who's just moved to the country will be able to provide. I had no problem opening a bank account as a British person in the U.S., but every American I know in the UK found that it took around a month to get one.